Small to Medium-size Businesses and Startups

For Start-ups and SMEs, immigration is rarely high on the agenda. However, you may find yourself in need of hiring talent from overseas if you’re not able to find it locally.

The plethora of immigration rules and regulations around the world can be somewhat confusing and constantly changing. Without the appropriate visa and work permission being in place the employment cannot go ahead. Similarly, when you are looking to expand into a new region, it can be difficult to cut through the red tape and understand what you are required to do when setting up and employing staff before you make the move.

Getting the immigration piece wrong can spell disaster for the individual and their family, and cause business loss and compliance issues for the company. Therefore, it is imperative to put this work into the hands of the experts. Below are the services that we offer our Start-up and SME clients.

The competition for the best talent now takes place on a global scale, and effectively navigating the immigration piece in bringing needed foreign talent to you is critical to your success.

Newland Chase’s global presence supports you in bringing foreign talent from virtually any country in the world to your home base or overseas operation. Whether your business is located near our head corporate office in the UK, near one of our 15 regional international offices, or in a distant corner of the globe, we likely have an expert who has navigated your country’s immigration process.

Bringing Talent to the UK

For small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), the sponsorship process can appear quite daunting, time consuming, bureaucratic and inflexible. The Home Office guidance on sponsorship is vast and as a result, it may be arduous for smaller businesses, with limited resources, to find the exact information they need. This can impede the ability for SMEs to recruit the international talent and skills that would help their business grow.

Tier 2 of the UK points-based immigration system is one of the most important employment UK doorways for non-EEA skilled workers. As an SME, it’s a valid route to go down if you have been unable to fill your vacancy with a resident worker, and you’ve identified a suitable overseas candidate.

You will need Home Office permission to sponsor an overseas worker. Sponsorship acts as an oath that you accept your migrant worker responsibilities; the culpability is on you, the SME, to meet specific record keeping, reporting and compliance obligations.

Once you have successfully gained sponsor status , you’ll be given a licence rating. An A-rated licence lets you start assigning Certificates of Sponsorship. Your A-rated licence may be downgraded to a B-rating at a later stage if you don’t continue to meet your sponsor duties.

You’ll be able to issue Certificates of Sponsorship if you have jobs that are suitable for sponsorship.

Your licence will be valid for 4 years. You may lose your licence if you don’t meet your responsibilities as a sponsor.

Before sponsoring a migrant under Tier 2, you must check the job meets the Home Office required skill level and correct rate of pay. And, if the role is one that isn’t deemed to be a shortage occupation by the Home Office you’ll need to advertise your vacancy to demonstrate that no suitable resident worker could be found. There are strict criteria the advertising methods must meet in order for the Resident Labour Market Test to be deemed compliant by the Home Office. Once these criteria have been met, a Certificate of Sponsorship can be assigned via your sponsor license.

A Certificate of Sponsorship is issued by the employer in respect of the migrant worker filling the job on offer. Despite the name, it’s not an actual certificate – it’s a unique reference number, which holds information about the job and the migrant worker.

Once this first stage has been completed by the SME the second stage of the process needs to be completed by the identified migrant in their country of residence. To come to the UK to start work in the role, the migrant worker must score a number of points, awarded for attributes and salary, among others. Providing these criteria (and any others applicable under the Immigration Rules) are met, the overseas worker can apply for a UK visa.

To maintain a Global business it important to know that you are able to meet your partners face to face with minimum fuss. If you are arranging business travel for someone else or travelling to a meeting yourself, you may need a ‘Business Visa’.

Although the process of acquiring a business visa can be shorter, there are still many pitfalls to the applicant. Whether it is the nature of the business attended to, the particulars of the local jurisdiction or the track record of the applicant, we can make the requirements simple and overcome any potential obstacles that are identified.

It is important to note that although there are intergovernmental agreements that allow business travel without the use of a visa, there are still procedures that need to be observed before you get to your hotel.

At Newland Chase, we are used to helping businesses maintain links on a daily basis. We can provide the clarity of advice and streamlining services, that will make your business travel efficient even in the most adverse of circumstances.

Services Provided:

Initial consultation on the eligibility and requirements for the Visa

Advice, even if a Visa is not required, on crossing the border on business travel

In today’s global marketplace, individuals and business executives are no longer expected to remain in a single country to conduct their businesses. Many will need to migrate and relocate overseas to where they feel will have personal benefits and where their businesses will thrive.

Increasingly, countries are introducing attractive entrepreneur and startup visas and startup incubator programs to attract new businesses. Getting the right guidance and assistance is vital to take advantage of these opportunities and ensure a successful and pain-free relocation process. Our Startup and SME Immigration division at Newland Chase are experts in global startup options and are able to support clients through the critical visa application process.

Newland Chase is located in key major cities across 5 continents, and our team of experts is able to provide a customized approach to every client’s needs and local practical advice for the country of their choice.

UK

Tier 1 Entrepreneur – Introduced in 2008, this route requires a £200,000 investment into a brand new or existing business. Applicants are required to provide a business plan and prove they can speaking a good level of English. Successful applicants will be granted a 3 year visa initially, with an option to extend for a further 2 years, providing they have hired 2 full-time local employees. Following this, entrepreneurs can apply for permanent residency and citizenship the year after. There is also an accelerated settlement option for those who have hired 10 local employees or have a turnover of £5million after the initial 3 year period, and can apply for permanent residence without the need for an extension.

Australia

Business Innovation and Investment Programme (BIIP)- Business Innovation Visa: Launched in 2012, this programme is designed to attract both entrepreneurs to the country. Applicants are required to score 65 in the points based system with minimum assets of $800,000AUD, have a business credit history and the capacity to run a business. Successful applicants can apply for one extension for an additional two years so your visa can last up to six years. Nearly 80% of successful applicants over the last 2 years are from China.

Singapore

Entrepass – Launched in 2004, this is one of the more established programmes but has seen a number of changes over the years to ensure the right type of foreign entrepreneurs apply with a business idea that is innovative in nature, and able to create local employment. Applicants must be over 21, with an entrepreneurial or relevant background. They must hold at least 30% of the new business and have a minimum paid-up capital of S$50,000. There are different categories for renewals depending on company turnover and number of employees at the time of renewal. EntrePass holders are eligible to apply for permanent residence but this is subject to approval by the Singapore immigration authority.

Canada

Start-up Visa – Launched in 2013, this programme replaced the Entrepreneur Visa and aims to make Canada attractive to entrepreneurs from across the world. Applicants are required to have backing from either an approved Venture Capital company (VC) of CA$200,00 or angel investor of CA$75,000. You can also apply if you have been accepted on one of the approved business incubators in Canada, without any financial backing. You can find a list of all ‘designated organizations’ on the Government of Canada’s website.

Other countries that offer Entrepreneur and Startup Visas include Chile, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand and Spain. Please contact us if you require any further information or advice on any of the entrepreneurial routes.

For large multinational companies, immigration is the key to most assignments. Without the appropriate visa and work permission being in place the assignment or employment cannot go ahead. Getting the immigration piece wrong can also spell disaster for the individual and…

Contact Us

We welcome the opportunity to have a conversation about your international business goals, how they are impacted by the constantly shifting world of global immigration, and what you and Newland Chase can do together to achieve those goals.